Seth MacFarlane sued for copyright infringement

July 16th, 2014

Seth MacFarlane has been sued for alleged copyright infringement for 'Ted'.

The 'Family Guy' creator, along with Universal Pictures and Media Rights Capital, have been hit with the law suit from Bengal Mangle Productions - who claim the titular teddy bear character from 2012 film 'Ted' is an unlawful copy of their own animated bear.

The suit alleges that their bear - who is named Charlie and stars in web series 'Charlie The Abusive Teddy' and 'Acting School Academy' - and Ted are similar in physical appearance and behaviour.

The legal documents state: ''Both Charlie and Ted reside in a substantially similar environment, including that both Charlie and Ted spend a significant amount of time sitting on a living room couch with a beer and/or cigarette in hand.

''Charlie and Ted each have a substantially similar persona, verbal tone, verbal delivery, dialogue, and attitude.''

The law suit - which also names MacFarlane's Fuzzy Door Productions - alleges that scenes in the web series, which aired in 2009 and 2010 on YouTube and FunnyOrDie.com, are similar to scenes in 'Ted'.

It also cites specific scenes in the film including Ted ''showing a woman all the lewd acts he wants to perform with her, using violence to get his point across to John (Wahlberg), talking to Nora Jones about their sexual history, and making fat jokes even when his life is in danger.''

'Ted' was directed, co-written and produced by MacFarlane and starred Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis and a sequel is set to be released next June.